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Chinese Classifiers (Measure Words): a Phenomenon That Is Hard to Translate 119

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Chinese Classifiers (Measure Words): a Phenomenon That Is Hard to Translate 119 Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis No 3689 Studia Linguistica XXXIV Wrocław 2015 MAGDALENA PLINTA Uniwersytet Wrocławski, Poland Chinese classifi ers (measure words): A phenomenon that is hard to translate This article examines the different methods in which Chinese and Polish students study Chinese classifi ers (measure words). The processes in which students from these two separate countries learn classifi ers (measure words) are comparably different. There is no clear term for the word classifi er (measure word) in the Polish language (Zemanek 2013:86). However, Polish uses grammatical techniques sim- ilar to classifi ers in Chinese but the usage of them is optional. It is only compul- sory when we are speaking about uncountable nouns like e.g. water – dwa wiadra wody (‘two buckets of water’), dwie szklanki wody (‘two glasses of water’); wine – dwie lampki wina (‘two glasses of wine’), dwie butelki wina (‘two bottles of wine’); sugar – dwa kilo cukru (‘two kilograms of sugar’), dwie łyżeczki cukru (‘two teaspoons of sugar’). If we want to measure an object’s quantity a counter is needed otherwise the sum of the object is unclear. Occasionally some count- able nouns in Polish also require a ‘classifi er’, e.g. dwie pary butów (‘two pairs of shoes’). In addition, the rules are unclear as to when classifi ers are needed in a sentence, which can be problematic for a foreigner studying Polish as a second language. This is especially the case for a Chinese student learning Polish as a second language. Although the word classifi er is present in “Słownik języka polskiego” (Polish Language Dictionary), it does not describe a word that matches this specifi c description of classifi er. In contrast, the usage of classifi ers in Chinese is always compulsory. In Polish we can say: Jedna kostka masła (‘one cube of butter’) but we can also say jedno masło (‘one butter’). In Chinese it will always be yi he huangyou (‘one cube of butter’); the use of yi huangyou (‘one butter’) is incorrect and will confuse a na- tive Chinese speaker which will be explained precisely further on. The two terms classifi er and measure word are generally treated and used interchangeably as equivalents although they are not exactly the same. A classifi er Studia Linguistica 34, 2015 © for this edition by CNS SSL_34_Ksiega.indbL_34_Ksiega.indb 111717 22016-04-21016-04-21 114:29:254:29:25 118 MAGDALENA PLINTA (also called a counter word) is a morpheme that stands between a numeral and a noun, e.g. wu (numeral) ge (classifi er) ren (noun) (‘fi ve measure word people’) or between a demonstrative pronoun and a noun e.g. na (demonstrative pronoun) ge (classifi er) ren (noun) (‘this measure word person’). The name classifi er is used with count nouns, while the term measure words are used for mass nouns: “A classifi er categorizes a class of nouns by picking out some salient perceptual properties, either physically or functionally based, which are permanently associ- ated with entities named by the class nouns; a measure word does not categories but denotes the quantity of the entity named by noun” (Tai and Wang 1990:38 as cited in: Tai 1994:481). Furthermore, classifi ers are called sortal classifi ers and measure words, men- sural classifi ers (Senft 2000 as cited in: Tang 2005:434), but the difference be- tween the two is still unclear, as the source above explains. It is called a classifi er, because it classifi es the object by the shape, if it’s long or round. It is sometimes challenging to determine the classifi er that needs to be added to the noun (this topic I will discuss later). As mentioned above, the terms classifi er and measure word are not the same, but when used in daily routine they are equivalents. I will use these two terms in my article interchangeably (although in science they are treated and used differ- ently). Classifi ers can be divided into four main groups: measure words for nouns, measure words for verbs, double-function measure words, and compound meas- ure words (He Jie Bianzhu 2005:III). One measure word can be used for different specifi c groups. The measure word gives specifi c features to the sentence. For instance the classifi er ba: 1) double-function measure word a) can be used either for nouns, e.g.: а ᢺ ἵᆀ yi ba yizi one CLF chair ‘jedno krzesło’ b) or for verbs, e.g.: ਨᵪ аᢺ ᧘ᔰ Ҷ Ԇྩ siji yi ba tui kai le ta driver CLF push away PST he/she ‘kierowca odepchnął go/ją’ Studia Linguistica 34, 2015 © for this edition by CNS SSL_34_Ksiega.indbL_34_Ksiega.indb 111818 22016-04-21016-04-21 114:29:254:29:25 Chinese classifiers (measure words): A phenomenon that is hard to translate 119 2) individual classifi er for things that we can handle, e.g.: а ᢺ 㣡⭏ yi ba huasheng one CLF peanuts ‘jedna garść(paczka) orzechów’ From my experience students associate measure words mainly combined with a noun rather than with a verb, where “The frequency of actions can be counted” (Li/Cheng 2008:83), e.g. wo (person) yi (numeral) ci (measure word) qu (verb) (‘I once measure word go’). In the following couple of paragraphs, I will focus on measure words for nouns. It is also interesting that measure words cannot serve as sentence elements by themselves (Li/Cheng 2008:76 – 77). They can only stand in a sentence on their own when the object in question was already mentioned at the beginning (of the previous sentence). As an example: Ni xihuan du na ben shu? Zhe ben, (‘You like read which measure word book? This measure word’). Allan (1977 as cited in: Tai 1994:483) outlines seven categories of classifi ca- tion but only four of them are relevant to Chinese classifi ers. These categories are divided into the following subcategories: 1. MATERIAL: animacy, inanimacy, abstract, verbal nouns. 2. SHAPE: long, fl at, round. 3. SIZE: big, small. 4. CONSISTENCY: fl exible, hard (rigid), non-discrete. Each of these groups has specifi c classifi ers for describing an object. The sub category animacy helps to distinguish animate objects from inanimate objects. Generally, Chinese speakers use the classifi er zhi for animals, e.g. yi (‘one’) zhi (classifi er) mao (‘cat’), although there are many exceptions to these rules. The same classifi er that is used for cats, birds or hamsters cannot be used for animals like horses, snakes, pigs, etc. Some animals have their own classifi er because they belong to other subcategories. For example she (‘snake’) uses the classifi er tiao that describes long things or objects. Therefore, an object or an animal in one group can easily belong to another one. The object or animal can still be combined with a classifi er from another group or subcategory. Another interesting aspect that is associated with classifi ers is that some of them carry their own meaning, while others do not. As above, for example, tiao means long on its own yet the classifi er pi (the classifi er that can be only combined with the noun horse) has no meaning when used on its own. When asked, Chinese Studia Linguistica 34, 2015 © for this edition by CNS SL_34-08-Plinta.indd 119 2016-04-28 08:54:39 120 MAGDALENA PLINTA people will always translate the classifi er pi as the classifi er for a horse. James HY Tai (1994:491) argues that we can fi nd the answer to this question: “Like linguistic signs in general, a classifi er can become ‘fossilized’ and become conventionalized by losing its original semantic motivation”. The need for an exact classifi er when discussing a countable object is a topic that has been debated intensely over time. However, there are some explanations for the presence of classifi ers for countable nouns. Two of them are appropriate in my opinion. Doetjes (Doetjes 1996 as cited in: Tang 2005:460) argues the use of this kind of classifi ers as the countable objects (that will be combined with the right classifi er) need to have a semantic denotation. On the other hand Peyraube’s (1991 as cited in: Tang 2005:460) claims that classifi ers have to be used because there is no plurality marker. We have to remember that there is no equivalent to a plural form in the Chinese language, so there is a need to place something between the numeral and the object that will allow the object to be further described. Due to the fact that there are many dialects within China, the number of measure words cannot be accurately established. However, in some sources it is believed that there are over a thousand of them (of course most of them are not used anymore). In some Chinese grammar books (for foreign Chinese language learners) we can fi nd an explanation of 314 classifi ers only in Mandarin language that will enable the reader to develop a better understanding and help them to study classifi ers (He Jie Bianzhu 2005). Now that the main section of classifi ers has been explained, I will continue to discuss the process in which students learn classifi ers differently in Chinese schools and Polish universities (language schools). I interviewed in total 30 Chi- nese native speakers and Polish students that are studying Chinese. I have also been studying Mandarin for 3 years now and I received a scholarship to study in China for a semester. From this time spent in China I was able to gain most of the information needed to explain this section.
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